Black on White
by Gemsir
Summary: An ash tree. Ravens. A bench. An first move yet to make. - AU –- One-sided Tony - all human


A/N: While chapter 4 of Shades of Green is about to be done in the next few days, I just had to write this for myself.**  
**Why? Let's say sometimes you want to slap yourself for not doing things. More notes at the end of the story.

* * *

**Black On White**

**ooOoo**

„No!"

- [pause] -

„I said _no_, would y... Ey! Would you shut the hell up and listen to..."

- [pause] -

„What?"

- [pause] -

„This is ridiculous!"

- [pause] -

„How much?"

- [pause] -

„Over my rotten dead body! Tell them that!"

Tony hung up on his mobile without waiting for a possible reply.  
Running a company was a pain in the ass lately.  
His competitors behaved like vultures since he had suffered a temporary defeat. Bastards!

His feet carried him through the canyons of skyscrapers along the rivers running cars instead of water.

He was done with this September day.

All he craved for was a good dose of booze.

Getting wasted somewhere. That seemed to be the only thing to make this day somehow worthwhile.

With great foresightedness, thanks to god, he always carried a bottle of scotch in his bag.

He strolled through Central Park, looking for a particularly quiet spot.

A park bench in the shadow of a group of trees just looked like the place to be.

He turned off his phone. Being unreachable was a luxury he granted himself every now and then.

.

He put his bottle in a paper bag. The laws amused him, sometimes.

Everyone knew what was inside the brown wrap, so where was the point in hiding it?

.

Taking a sip, he let his eyes wander.

A few kids playing hide and seek in the distance, their laughter just loud enough to reach his ears.

An old woman slowly walking by past him with her walking frame.

Her footsteps made a nice rhythm. Klick-tap-tap-klick-tap-tap-klick-tap-tap.

Another swig of honey-coloured liquid. The day was getting better by the minute.

.

A caw of a raven caught his attention. Tony put his sunglasses down and tried to catch sight of the bird. It called out again.

Tony narrowed his eyes. It came out of the impressively large ash tree standing alone nearby.

Another raven landed inside the tree, joining it's conspecific. And then another few of them. All of them croaking into the air. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in confusion, putting one arm over his stomach to support his other one.

In the distance he saw a man stroll over the lawn, obviously towards the ash.

By the increasing noise of the birds, they awaited him.

Or that's what Tony thought would make sense. Somehow.

Another sip.

The man reached the tree and settled himself in the lush grass. And some of the ravens landed around him, watching him curiously.

Tony found himself doing the same. Watching him. From the distance.

He was clothed in black. Ordinary slacks, nothing special. Long-sleeved v-neck shirt. Shoulder-length black hair, slicked back. His face face wore a royal dignity. He was definitely younger than him, tall and lean and … was he feeding the ravens with peanuts?

Indeed he dug his hand into a small dark green linen bag and pulled a handful out, tossing them in front of him. More ravens came and hopped close enough to pick up their haul.

The black haired man laughed sincere to no one in particular, small wrinkles forming on the corner of his eyes.

One of the ravens walked nonchalant towards the man, who held a peanut out in his hand. Tony arched an eyebrow when the bird picked it out of his fingers.

Half an hour later the man was gone and so was the flock of birds.

Tony was comfortably drunk and stumbled back to the streets, finding himself a Taxi.

The man wouldn't go out of his mind.

ooOoo

Work kept him busy.

He was able to pour oil on troubled waters, making his partners keeping their feet still.

No harm done.

He just got out of a way-to-long meeting and exited the company building with a sigh of relief.

The October sun stood at the zenith.

Since no other appointments had been made for today, Tony found himself walking into the park again. It had been weeks since he had been here last time and it had changed a lot.

The leaves had turned into all shades of yellow, orange and red. It was the beauty of contrast between those leaves and the deep green of the grass, that made Tony watch and smile for a minute.

He bought himself a hotdog and walked over to "his" bench.

Getting closer, he caught sight of a familiar person.

The young man was there again. What a strange coincidence.

The ravens sat on the branches, watching him walk to and fro under the ash tree, wildly gesturing into the air while talking to himself. Every now and then one of his feathered companions croaked softly.

His face looked indignant.

Out of a sudden he turned towards the trunk and punched it hard with his fist.

He instantly yanked his hand away, probably out of pain. The impact scared up the birds and they rose all at once, flying away in every direction.

Tony heard his inner voice ask him, why he wouldn't walk over and just ask what the matter was.

But really now, it wasn't his business, right?

Everyone had his right to be upset sometimes.

No reason to act.

The man grabbed his green bag, that lay forgotten on the lawn. And walked away.

Minutes later Tony did the same.

ooOoo

A few days later Tony sat on the same bench again.

No, he wasn't waiting for another coincidence.

Yes, he was lying to himself.

He had all day, having a day off.

He didn't have to wait long, though. The ravens announced his arrival.

And then the black-haired man entered the stage.

Tony realized then, that he was attracted by the man. Not in a sexual way. Or maybe a little?

Either way, he couldn't take his eyes of him.

He seemed so lost in his interaction with the ravens, like he was in a world of his own.

This time he fed them with bread while sitting on the ground again.

The wind rustled through his ebony hair.

One of the ravens caught his attention, obviously hobbling.

When the bird was close enough, Tony watched the young man fling himself forward, catching the injured raven with his hands while landing full length on his stomach.

The bird tried to get free as the man sat upright again. And even more so when those long fingers fumbled on it's claw. They pulled a piece of wire off it's leg and the bird thanked him by hacking it's beak at his hand.

The man let go of the raven and examined the back of his hand.

What a nice trade, Tony thought.

He could walk over and hand him a tissue. The hand was probably bleeding.

Then again, that would end in a strange situation, he mused.

There, the man had a tissue of his own. Alright.

ooOoo

He found himself sitting there again every second or third day.

Eventually he found out, at which time the dark haired man usually appeared at the ash.

The flock of ravens always waited for him.

There were days he was happy and talked to the birds like they were friends.

On others, he just sat under the branches and brooded.

Since it was getting colder outside, he started to wear a black coat, fitting neatly around his body.

Tony caught himself checking out his ass a few times, or marveling at his beautiful face.

And every-time he felt more and more drawn towards that man.

But he just couldn't walk over.

What should he say.

This was not one of these girls Tony could impress with a few well chosen words to get them in bed.

This man was obviously different. Enigmatic. And he didn't want to get him in bed. Not only.

There was something more. Something bigger.

ooOoo

At the end of November Tony started to actually formulate phrases to introduce himself to the stranger. In his head.

And each day he went home with the words unsaid.

He wondered if the man was getting thinner or if he was just imagining things.

ooOoo

Two days ahead of Christmas the first snow fell.

He watched the stranger feed the ravens as usual, every now and then blowing hot breath into his bare hands.

Three days later Tony waited with a pair of soft black woolen gloves and stared nervously at the ash.

The ravens sat in silence.

The stranger didn't come that day.

Nor did he the following two weeks.

ooOoo

It was a cold but sunny day, Tony casually leaned against the back rest, the ravens sat in the branches as usual at this time of day.

And then one of them cawed. Then another. Then the whole tree.

Tony's eyes shot to the direction he knew the stranger would come from.

He smiled when he actually saw him walking closer.

And then his brows knitted in confusion as he got aware of the cane, the man was supporting himself on with each slow step.

His skin was pale, almost the colour of ivory, contrasting his hair like the ravens did with the snow.

Tony was sure now, that the man had lost weight. The coat looked to big on him.

He pulled the black gloves out of his pocket and braced himself to give the stranger his delayed Christmas present and to explain him why he had gotten it for him in the first place.

So Tony stood up and walked over a couple of feet.

And stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the leather gloved hand the dark haired man was holding out towards one of the ravens.

He fastened his grip on the woolen fabric and walked away.

He'd have made a fool out of himself. He was almost sure.

ooOoo

The days went by so fast.

Tony had barely time for his visits in the park. But he was sure he was ready now. He just had to be. No further postponement. This time he would make his move.

When he caught sight of the stranger, he rose to his feet, standing in front of the bench with his fingers playing nervously at the rim of his jacket.

The cane seemed to be a constant companion to the man now. And this time he also wore one of those protection masks people tended to wear when being sick. Maybe he had the flu, Tony mused. He sat down on the bench again and decided to wait until the mask was gone again. One ore two weeks more couldn't hurt.

ooOoo

Tony came to the ash tree almost every day. In it's crown the ravens waited in silence.

The stranger didn't come. Not one single day.

About three weeks later, a tall blonde man walked towards the tree. He was close to his stranger's age, Tony mused.

He watched him pull a small dark-green linen bag out of his pocket and place it carefully into the snow at the ash's trunk. His hand hovered over the fabric for a few seconds, before he stood up and looked up to the tree for a while.

Then the blonde man briefly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and walked away quickly.

.

A few ravens croaked softly.

One of them landed on the ground and hopped towards the bag, pulling at it carefully.

When it dropped to the side, the bird shot up in surprise, making the whole flock rise up into the air as a huge black cloud.

.

Tony got up from the bench slowly. He was sure he understood.

His heart wrenched more and more with each step he took towards the tree.

He should have made this walk month ago.

He should have stood here as the grass was still green, reaching out his hand and just say "hi".

He should have.

Now he squatted in front of the bag and rearranged it gently.

A few feet away lay a single dark feather.

Tony got to his feet again and walked over, picking it up.

.

He turned it from one side to the other again and again while he walked back to the small path, admiring the silk-like texture.

"You must be one lucky person," an old man, who was just passing him, said "Those are seldom if ever to find." and pointed out at the raven feather. Then he walked on, laughing happily.

Tony bit at his lips and shut his eyes tightly.

He tried hard to fight it.

Until his shoulders shook uncontrollable and the first of many sobs left his lips.

.

.

* * *

end

* * *

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Note: Something like this happened to me recently.  
An entirely different situation, no romance involved, or other deep feelings.  
But still I could have just walked over and said hi. That person was my age.  
And from one day to another his chair stayed empty. The person gone forever.


End file.
